Geneva 1840 5 centimes
This specimen was lot 72811 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2019), where it sold for $156. The catalog description[1] noted, "SWITZERLAND. Geneva. 5 Centimes, 1840. NGC MS-66. Struck in billon. Tied for finest certified of the date with five other example between the NGC and PCGS population reports, none finer. Variable mottled patina over the satiny surfaces and crisp design features. An excellent representative of the type with a good look." Geneva, one of the cantons of Switzerland, struck coins sporadically throughout the eighteenth century. The coinage was interrupted by Napoleonic occupation but resumed in 1817. In 1839, the coinage was decimalized to 100 centimes = one franc and one, two, four, ten and twenty-five centimes were issued, all in billon. None are rare today. In 1848, Geneva was incorporated into the reformed Swiss Confederation and coinage for the individual cantons ceased.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: billon.
Catalog reference: KM-131.
- Divo, Jean-Paul, and Edwin Tobler, Die Münzen der Schweiz, im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Zürich: Bank Leu & Co AG, 1969.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2019 Collector's Choice Sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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